Justin Porter

CAD Images from ICM

If the box art is a reliable guide, it looks like this release of the Tudor will have the Halibrand E/T style wheels that were in the original release of the '32 Ford Roadster rather than the Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels.

So very happy they've elected to do a stock DMC-12. This has been a LONG time coming!

Expect to see the Firebird, CJ-7, '57 Bel Air, '64 Impala, and Bronco Half-Cab in hobby shops over the course of this week and the next. They landed at Stevens International today and will likely hit other wholesale distributors like Hobbytyme, Emery, and Heartland within the next few days as well.

Haven't had them in my shop yet. The few pre-orders I had for the kit were dropped as customers informed me they purchased them on eBay from Walmart resellers. As such, I dropped my pre-orders with my distributors and I will wait for the next go-around in the production cycle if at all. It's also worth pointing out that I did a quick dig into my 2023 PoS numbers just to make sure I was backing up what I'd said and for comparison here's my top ten on volume for 2023. 1: Fujimi 1/24 Chevy Astro 2: Revell '71 Mustang 3: Revell '71 Olds 442 4: Revell '70 Torino 5: Tamiya R32 Skyline GT-R 6: Revell '39 Chevy Sedan Delivery 7: Moebius Ford Ramp Truck 8: Moebius Golden Commandos AFX 9: Revell Bronco Bass Boat combo 10: Moebius F-250 with plow

Like I said, I'm just one shop out of thousands and I do know that other shops have done better with the '68 convertible, but at my counter I see two key things. 1 - Younger builders don't even pick the kit up. 2 - Older builders don't like the price ($35 shelf price against a $42.99 MSRP) I'll also point out that despite only having been on my website for a fraction of the period of time that I've had the '68 Coronet convertibles, the reissue of the '70 Coronet Super Bee has generated more web traffic on my e-commerce site than the '68 Coronet convertible. That's not anecdotal observation, that's data driven fact. Strangely enough, the auto kit generating the most traffic on my website so far in 2024? Revell's '56 Chevy Del Ray.

Nope. Still have half the case in my inventory.

Yes. The '68 GTO was another one of the clone kits. I believe it was salvaged from what had become the Beswick funny car kit. To date, at least over my counter, the Nova wagon remains the most successful of this line of kits but even its success is dwarfed by the sales of genuinely new tooling like the Moebius Chevy II Gasser or the Revell '71 Mustang. Then again, mine is just one shop. Other shops in other areas plus Hobby Lobby and Walmart seem to do fairly well with them.

Maybe the R/T hardtop will do better, but I put my order in for a case of the '68 R/T convertibles based almost entirely on the hype from Mopar modelers on forums and social media groups like this. I've sold two cases of Fujimi Chevy Astro Vans in the time span that I've had those Dodge convertibles. They haven't been a dud they don't sell particularly well even compared to other Craftsman Plus kits like the Nova wagon, '68 GTO, or the '64 Comet.

Additional good news on the Alfa reissue. According to Stevens International the MSRP is $33. For comparison's sake, MSRP on the just announced Craftsman Plus '64 Chevelle Malibu is $35.99. A full detail Tamiya kit from the 90's with metal transfer badges and poseable steering is cheaper than an AMT curbside from the 60's. Just to make things abundantly clear.

I can't speak to what other shops are going to be charging, but it's $75 on my shop's shelf and that's only a fuzz beneath MSRP which is my standard practice. Granted, $75 still isn't cheap but I feel it's in line with the $65 I charge for the Tamiya AMG GT Mercedes GT3 or $57 for the Fujimi McLaren MP4/12C GT3.

We got these in at my shop this week and I am here to say that for anyone for whom "curbside" is a dirty word, then you have nothing to complain about with the Meng kit. Just rifling through the box shows really fine molding, some genuinely clever design to keep things square and fitting nicely, and a good amount of goodies as there is included photoetch, belt material, and precut window masks.

Hasegawa is FINALLY taking the step with their excellent run of early 70's Celica coupes to tool up the popular LB fastback version. This should be quite the popular piece once it debuts!

Oh definitely! The Tamiya classic sports car reissues have been strong sellers because they're fun builds of desirable subjects and generally Tamiya has kept the MSRP on these reissues to under $40. Case in point, the little Fiat 500F that just came back to shelves I was able to hang a shelf price of $26 on. That's a lower price than most of the Revell catalog, let alone Round 2. So builders who aren't strictly interested in classic American cars are getting nicer kits at lower prices.

Hugely excited the Giulia is coming back. It's a jewel of a kit and I'll look forward to building it once again.

Just as a bit of a refresher given the detailed and challenging nature of other projects, I built this curbside Tamiya R33 GT-R box stock. The paint is from Gunze Sangyo's Gundam Color line - UG-05 MS Gray - with two coats of UV Cut Mr Super Clear Gloss over top. It was a fun build and I particularly liked the challenge of using a multitude of Grays in the interior to really pick out the dashboard.

As of 10:00am this morning through my distributors... Stevens International - TBA Hobbytyme - No Stock, scheduled arrival 12/31/2023 Emery - No Stock, anticipated arrival 12/2023 Heartland - No Stock

The Mustang was a very safe bet. Let's take our successful and profitable compact car, put a sporty coupe body on its platform, give it a name that's evocative both of the national fascination with the Old West AND Victory in Europe, price it affordably, and then give it a huge marketing campaign that kicks off at nothing less than the World's Fair. The biggest risk was if the public saw through the marketing ballyhoo and realized they were getting sold a Falcon in a frock, and Ford and Madison Avenue knew there was no chance at that. Now, as to your recommendation. Who's buying? Classic American obscura is a NICHE subject which dictates niche model kit pricing. You're talking cars like Kaiser Manhattans and Packard Caribbean Clippers. Cars that the bulk of non-retired people have only seen as museum pieces. Fascinating and lovely cars to be certain, but you cannot tell me that globally there's more sales potential in a Studebaker Lark than there is in a modern WRC subject like the Citroen C3 and surely you've seen what builders are willing to pay Belkits for a WRC kit? As such, the price MUST reflect the lowered demand and the relatively restricted geography of the market, and all you have to do is see the number of builders salivating over the chance to grab a reissue of the Monogram Rampage Camaro at their local Ollies just because it's less than $20 to know that there is no genre of builders who are more obsessively price conscious than builders of American classic cars. They shriek and stomp their feet and bellow about "I remember when -name of defunct department store- sold models for -single digit dollar price tag- and that's why there's no kids building models today" despite the fact that there's someone a third their age in line behind them at the counter with an armload of Gundam kits.

You've set an aspirational target for anyone building a 250GTO with this build.

For Builders - That's fantastic that the Demon will get into the hands of a broad number of builders. I look forward to seeing what my fellow modelers do with the kit especially since it looks to be one of the best of the retro clones. For Me - Well... Thanks for nothing once again, Round 2. I thought $32.99 was your MSRP and $29.99 was MAP? Do you just NOT want us carrying your products if you're going to enforce a Minimum Advertised Price on us that prevents us from even accepting that maybe we just have to eat the scant margin it would take to cut ourselves to the BONE to compete at this? My cost on the Demons is $18.31, and I have been waiting patiently to be able to put MPC's hottest new kit on my shelves knowing just how eager builders are for it. Literally the only weapon you've left us in sales compared to Ollies, Hobby Lobby, and Walmart has been that window where we get new releases first. Now the new releases will hit the big boxes before locals can get their hands on the kit AND they'll be allowed to break the MAP policy enforced upon the rest of us? Really, REALLY makes me want to continue being a Round 2 retailer. Just gives me all the warm fuzzies.

Great line up without any clear scale bias too.

Some genuinely easy to appreciate builds. Lots of really great use of color.

Incredibly sharp and clean builds.

Great variety of builds and any year where you can wrap up an Accurate Miniatures build is a big accomplishment!

Really do like what you accomplished with that Lancia in particular!